What To Do With Brown Bananas

So, I've had these 3 really brown bananas sitting on our kitchen counter for about 4 days....just sitting there because no one would eat them! Does that ever happen at your house??? I decided this morning while drinking my first cup of java, that I better do something with those brown bananas. I went to google and typed in "banana scones" and voila....I found lots of recipes. The recipe I chose was Chocolate Chip Banana Scones, and they are really easy to make. Click the link and it will take you to the recipe. One tip....add one tablespoon of sugar to the dry ingredients. Also, when you put the scones on the baking pan, brush each scone with milk or cream and then sprinkle with coarse sugar (or regular sugar will do). I learned the milk/cream trick from "Sister Shirley Ann," A.K.A.....mom. My mom use to pretend she was a Catholic nun when she wrote letters or emails to us girls, so I still find myself referring to my mom as Sister.....!!!! Well anyway, the scones are pretty good and a nice alternative to banana bread.

Ok girls (my librarian colleagues & friends), do you want to hear something really weird. I got a phone call this morning around 10 am from the Manitowish Waters public library saying that two books I requested came in and I should pick them up at the library. What???? I said, "excuse me but I live in Dunn County, how could I possibly have requested books to be picked up in Vilas county, which is east & half way across the state of Wisconsin?" Well, I wasn't getting anywhere with the library volunteer that called me so I asked to speak to the librarian. Once I explained to her that I, myself was a librarian from Colfax, WI, and that it was really weird that my name magically appeared on a Interlibrary Loan request. Then the librarian said, "you know we do have a patron with your same name that lives around here, but her middle inital is different than yours." I asked her how did they get my personal home telephone number, and she could not answer that question, but it did show up on the Interlibrary Loan request.....very weird. She wasn't sure who did the ILL request. It did creep me out, however because how did someone get access to my home phone number? When I get back to work on Monday, I'm going to invesigate this incident more and also make some phone calls. That sure is a strange coincidence that I would get a call like that, especially since I am a librarian by occupation.

Feeling Childless Again!

Well, our daughter Becca headed back to Duluth, Minnesota this afternoon. Her car is STILL in the car shop and won't be fixed until Monday, so she had to borrow her dad's car to drive back home. I was sad to see her go back because I know we won't see her for a long time. Becca has lot's of part-time jobs, plus she active in her church so she doesn't have a lot of free time. This is actually her last semester of classes at UMD, with some part-time student teaching at a high school in the Duluth area. Next fall Becca will be student teaching full-time....somewhere! Life just seems to fly by so quickly. Your children go from being little to suddenly growing up. Cherish your little ones!!!!!

Becca's Last Night Home

Wow, it's been a busy two days....that's why you haven't heard from me. No, no, nothing bad happened to me (mom), I just had a full day yesterday and then again today. Yesterday, I worked all day and then taught spin class at 5:15 - 6 pm. Then after spin class I had to drive to Menomonie (20 miles) to attend bible study. I finally got home at 9:15 pm last night.

Today, I worked again all day, then came home and then went back into Menomonie tonight so we could go out to eat at Green Mill restaurant. I wanted to treat our kids to a restaurant dinner. Now, it's my turn to rant (Krissy), so the waitress asked us if we wanted something to drink. I said, "yes, I'd like a pomegranate martini," which I've never had before and I was really looking forward to trying it. After about five minutes the waitress came back and said sorry, we can't find the pomegranate juice...would you like something else? I said, "yes, a glass of wine will be fine." I scanned the wine list and picked a glass of J. Lohr Chardonnay, which I've bought before by the bottle at the grocery store... so I know it's good. Well, later when we went to pay our bill, my delicious glass of J. Lohr Chardonnay was $7 dollar a glass (well, make that half a glass...geez). I'm so glad I only ordered one glass. Now I know why Green Mill doesn't list a price by their wine or other liqueur drinks...what a ripe-off! My son Chris reminded me that I could buy a whole bottle of wine for $7 dollars. Thanks Chris that really made me feel much, much better. So how was the food? It was pretty good, and they give you lots of food too, so I brought 1/2 my Jalapeno/Bacon burger home. You know, Ted and I just don't go out to eat much anymore....now I know why.

Becca is leaving tomorrow to drive back to Duluth, so it was nice to spend her last night together. I'll miss my baby girl!

She Never Stops Playing....Help!

Our cat Annabelle has been given lots of special attention over the last two weeks with Becca and Chris being around for their college break. I think she's getting pretty spoiled with two young people that love to play with her. Tonight, the kids were trying to see if they could totally exhaust Annabelle with the lazer pointer. If you make the lazer pointer go round and round in a circle on the floor, Annabelle will follow the pointer continuously until getting dizzy....it's the funniest thing to watch. I never understood would they meant by a cat being "lively" in nature. Now I understand!!! This cat never stops playing. I keep waiting for her to turn into a lazy fat cat that just wants to sleep....like my other cats, Sheba, Patches & Walter. No, not Annabelle. Thank heavens she sleeps at night, otherwise I'd no nuts.

The Real Tainter Turtle

Ok, here's the real Tainter Turtle! Actually, my mother bought this turtle broch for me months ago and I promised to blog about it. So tonight, I decided this would be a good night to take a picture of it. That's Becca's hand by the way....our daughter is back home from her Kansas City trip after Christmas. She's only here shortly and will leave for Duluth on Friday, so I have to cherish these nights that we can spend together.

So what are we doing tonight? We are watching "For Your Consideration" a movie directed by Christopher Guest. We've watched all of Christopher Guest movies, we love his movies...."A Mighty Wind" and "Best in Show." All of his movies are a certain comedy theme, corny, but funny. The cool thing is that Guest uses the same actors and actresses in all his movies. I highly recommend watching any of these movies for a good laugh.

Blind Munchies Coffeehouse

Ahhh....this is a definitely hot tea or coffee weather. After our small ice storm yesterday afternoon, the temperature took a dramatic drop. It's now only 5 degrees outside with a 15-20 mph wind blowing so you do not want to spend too much time outdoors today. When I woke up this morning I had to go outside and scrap the ice off my car windows and the windchill was so bitting that my face felt frozen after only five minutes.

I drove very slowly & carefully to church this morning (13 miles) because the highways had snowdrifts and ice on the roadways from yesterday. Normally our old church building is cold and drafty, but this morning it felt warm and cozy. I stayed after church for fellowship and lunch. Since my church has a coffeehouse in the lower level, you can stay after service and get a nice inexpensive warm lunch. Today, they offered two homemade soup choices, two types of pizza, chicken fajitas, a burger or a sandwich. The dessert for today was "better than sin" cake!!!! They reworded the name of the cake as you propably figured out. The dessert looked so good, but I didn't buy a piece. I did buy a homemade cherry walnut scone....(I always share the scones with my husband). My church also serves as a small bakery. You see, the senior pastor use to run a real bakery/coffeehouse before becoming a pastor, so I've been told. All I can say is that I've never been disappointed with any bakery I've bought at church...it's awesome. I bet you think I just go to church for the food, don't you??? hee, hee! Actually, all the money raised in the coffee house goes to our Shofar mission house and radio station (http://www.jesusfellowshipofbelievers.com/shofar/) that my church runs in the Phillippines. Our church also built two churches in India. That's the reason why I really eat lunch and buy coffee at our church coffeehouse!

Do You Have a Favorite Tree?

We have this large pine tree on the lake side of our property that I'm sure is very old. Over that last twenty-two years, I've watched this tree age. It's lost a few big tree limbs to summer thunderstorms, but the biggest problem of all is that there is erosion occurring on the side of the hill where the tree is located. By the photo I took, you can see the base of the pine tree is almost hollow. Since the soil is eroding, the animals make themselves comfortable by taking shelter inside the hollow base. I'm not sure what kind of animal makes a home there, but it's probably a red squirrel, chipmunk, otter, or maybe a woodchuck! I will see animal tracks in the snow going over to the tree, but I can never figure out what is actually living there. Maybe one of these years I'll spot the little creature!!! Let's hope the tree survives another twenty-two years. It's a great tree for the eagles and kingfishers.